Los Angeles County will pay $53 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged tens of thousands of women were given invasive group strip searches at a jail, according to court filings Tuesday.
The class-action lawsuit was filed in 2010 on behalf of former inmates who said they were placed in groups of up to 50 and ordered to expose their genitals while deputies shouted degrading comments.
The searches during intake inspections at the Sheriff’s Department’s Century Regional Detention Facility caused the women trauma and humiliation, the lawsuit said. Many of the examinations occurred at night in a bus garage that was without heaters until 2014, the suit said.
“It’s a nightmare I will never forget. I hope no human being has to live through it again,” said Mary Amador, a former inmate who’s part of the class action.